The Life And Times Of Nel Zelpher
by bron1991
Summary: Basically the title, XD. From the death of her parents,Nel makes a pact,to kill the king of Airyglyph, and anyone who gets in her way, including a specific red eyed katana holding boy. What she doesn't count on is love.May be AlbelxNel not decidedReview
1. The Prologue

**This is my first star ocean fanfic, so pretty please be kind. Just an idea that popped into my head one day, so i thought, why not write a fanfic on it?**

**I hope you enjoy. If you hate it, review anyway. I like reviews XD. Oh and if I get any facts wrong, feel free to tell me, and I'll make changes so they're fixed.  
**

**Disclaimer : I don't own anything you recognise. Just my own brain...**

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The air was fresh. The night was young, as was the lady huddled in her bed covers. Producing a small globe of light in her hand, she marvelled at it. How could something so precious, like light, be created from her? 

She had the gift of runology in her blood; the tattoos on various parts of her body represented this. However, never could she practice this amazing gift in public. The main reason for this was her mother, who had been the one who had chosen the surname Zelpher. She was so opposed to this runology; often she had seen her throw stones at those with the tattoos.

This was the reason she had to cover up. She knew that if he saw those tattoos on her ankles or wrists, she would most probably kill her.

* * *

She shook her head, in an attempt to dispel the thoughts. Her bright red hair, cut short, just below the ears, shook with it, annoying Nel even more. How much she would love to have hair that could just be tied back, so it no longer bothered her. She had always been told to keep it short, as her mother told her if she acted like a boy, she could have hair like one. 

Maybe her mother felt Nel acted like a boy because of her decidedly boyish traits. For instance, from a young age, she had practiced skills with daggers, until now, she could easily hit a target hundreds of meters away, so skillfully, the dagger had to be removed from the target with another weapon, generally an axe. Firstly, her mother had complained, even attempted to take the weapons away. This did not last long, as then Nel's father had returned home and persuaded her mother that it was a great idea, as she needed to be able to protect herself.

* * *

The small family of three lived in Arias; an area known for the fighting that often took place between Airyglyph and Aquios. Though they were supposed to be on the side of Aquios, Nel knew that her mother had always supported Airyglyph because of her well-known intolerance for magic, not believing in it at all. Her father, Neville, was a top spy for Queen Romera, and was often away on business, meaning Nel was usually left at home only with her mother for company. This was yet another reason why Nel's mother hated Aquios, and the queen with a strong passion, as she loved Neville more than anything, even her daughter. 

Nel was different to both of her parents, as she supported neither, and hated bloodshed. The only reason she had practiced with her dagger was because she wanted her father to be proud of her. She saw him so little, it was a hard task to do, but she wanted him to start to take notice of her. This had succeeded, and he had taught her many spying techniques.

To make her mother happy, Nel wore a skirt, though she had always detested it. It would have appeared common for a girl to wear anything other, and her mother hated the common. However, in her there was a large streak of rebel ness, so instead of the normal calf length skirt, she wore a mini, barely covering her underwear. The only problem, Nel had found with this, was that in winter, it was unbearably cold. To compensate this, she had taken to wearing a woolly scarf, which kept her neck and face nice and toasty.

* * *

With her light globe, Nel curled up into a tight ball, reading a large worn book. It was about the history of runology, a subject she adored. She read page after page, her wide blue eyes never becoming tired. As she finished reading the last page, a sound erupted from the darkness. Nel quickly lifted her head from under the covers, wondering where on Elicoor the sound had come from. As she had the globe in her hand, she saw that there was nothing odd in her room. Which meant something must be happening outside. 

The sounds of screaming filled the air, fulfilling Nel's suspicions. What could it be? Quickly, she changed into her normal outfit, placing the 15 or so knives around herself. Though she normally only used 2 in battle, it was always useful to have spares. She crept out through her door in a ninja motion, leaving no notion of her departure. This was one of the many things she had learnt from Neville, though he definitely did not want to see his little girl go into the world of spy hood. He was a traditionalist, instead wanting her to marry a nice boy who was wealthy and had many connections. She tiptoed through the landing, as one thing she definitely did not want to do was to wake up her mother, who was cranky at the best of times. However, as Neville was at home on a break from being a spy, Nel's mother slept soundly beside him.

She jogged down the stairs, being careful to mind all the odd bumps and lumps that would cause the staircase to creak loudly, and would bring Her out of the slumber. Opening the door, she thanked the goddess that her dad always kept it well oiled in case of emergency. She exited the grand house in the centre of Aquios.

* * *

Immediately, she grabbed her two favourite daggers, twirling them in her fingers in an attempt to warm up. The reason for this was that the town was in chaos. Fire surrounded many buildings, the smoke swirling, causing the air to become thick and it slightly clouded Nel's vision. 

It became apparent quickly that it was yet another attempt by Airyglyph to take control of the little town of Arias. Clenching her fist around the dagger, she tried desperately to locate the enemy. Firstly, she saw a group of people lying on the ground, most certainly dead, from the large puddles of blood that surrounded them. All Nel could do was hold the sick that threatened to erupt from her mouth down, and carry on looking.

* * *

Finally, she found what she had been looking for. A group of soldiers stood near the exit of Arias. Everything turned red for Nel, and she threw the two daggers, which firmly implanted themselves in the hearts of two of the soldiers. She didn't even care that they were her first and second kill. 

However, this definitely gained the attention of the rest of the mass of soldiers, as they glanced around, attempting to find the man who had thrown the daggers.  
What they did not expect was a young girl, so as their eyes scanned over her, they seemed to miss the way her hands were poised, as if in mid throw.

Only when two more men fell dead to the ground, did the idea that it may have been the young girl entered one of the men's mind.  
He signalled to the other men, and as artfully as soldiers could be, they crept towards Nel. Nel was to entranced to notice.

* * *

This was because she had turned, looking at the destruction. Still, many houses were blazing, but many had been fully turned to ash. 

A scream filled the air as she looked to the centre of Arias, where her mansion was allocated. It was the scream of Nel Zelpher, as the mansion was another building that had begun blazing.

Her father was in there. The one man Nel adored with all of her heart. So was her mother, but neither felt any love for the other. They were not even acquaintances. She had to save her father. She had to get in.

* * *

But as she made her way to the door, the soldiers who had been creeping up on her, reached their destination, grabbing Nel, which stopped her movement.  
Again she screamed, trying to get them to hear that her father was in there! He was asleep! He was going to die if they didn't let her go! 

They didn't care, the people in the house were simply Aquios scum. Instead, they picked the young girl up, taking care of the many daggers that were on many parts of her body.

* * *

She fought and fought, but couldn't get away. Instead, she was forced to watch, the house burn down, the acrid smell of burning flesh entered her nostrils. Neville was gone. The only relative she cared about. Nel broke down and cried, letting the soldiers take her away.

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**And there you go. Hopefully I'll update soon, but I need to wait till some ideas enter my little head.**

**Please review, but all I ask is that if you flame me, please give me some helpful hints.**

**Thank you all!!**

**Bron1991**


	2. The meeting

**Another chapter...this is so much harder to write than my other fic you have no idea. I hope that this is okay, I know its not very long. Please read and review, I do need help!!**

**Bron1991**

Chapter 2 - The meeting  


She awoke a while later, her eyes still raw from the rivers of tears that had flowed from her eyes, causing them to become puffy and raw. Not all of the tears had been in sadness; many were caused from the anger and pain that grief often causes.

The pain had been from the man who had been holding her. Lets say he was not gentle. She still felt the bruises on her sides that must have been caused by him. She would get them back. She'd get them all back.

_Just as soon as she knew where she was,_ Nel thought, opening her eyes fully. She shrunk back quickly, the fear evident on her gaping mouth and wide eyes. What was she going to do now?

Where she was laid was a dank, cold dungeon, filled with cobwebs, and the screams of the others feared Nel the most. She must have been unconscious for a long time, for nothing in Aquaria would have this level of torture. She must be in Airyglyph.

* * *

Slowly, she stood, legs still trembling from the effort. Now at least she could survey her surroundings. Quickly, she realised that they had gotten rid of all of her daggers, as she no longer had the heavy weight of them slowing her down. This was not necessarily a hinderence, she knew many many forms of martial arts, and few required man-made weapons. However, the problem was that her wrists were chained to the wall, making it impossible for her to escape through fighting. 

Another problem was that there was nobody around her. No soldiers, or even other people. She was alone in the tiny enclosed space, where it was so dark Nel could not see a hand in front of her face. Luckily for her, she still had her skills of runeology and she quickly produced a globule of light in her palm. She was most definitely trapped. Three very solid walls surrounded her, and the other was filled with metallic bars, that she had never encountered before. There was only a few feet of space in the enclosure, and she realised that there must be many other rooms like this in the dungeon. That must be where the screams were from.

_But why were the people screaming??_ There was nothing that scary in the room, once you got used to the temperature, and the spiders, and the hundreds of rats. Nothing to make someone scream in pain. Deciding that she no longer needed the light, she destroyed the globule. Fortunately, it was this moment, where the guards checked in on her. They did not see that she had runeology, that would have been something tricky to explain, as the people in Airyglyph did not believe in any form of magic. Unfortunately though, this was the moment that the inquisitor waltzed in.

* * *

He was large and ugly, his face covered with a large black hood. Most probably this was to cover the many scars and "beauty spots" that covered his face. He had large, black gauntlets, which covered the entire of his fists, and Nel began to despair as to what she would do. He strolled towards her, his heavy feet sending shockwaves through the ground, towards Nel. 

"Well, well what do we have here. A little girly." She looked straight up into the hood, and saw the cold eyes staring at her in a way that made Nel feel a little self-conscious. However she was not afraid.

Nel spat at the mans feet, showing her distaste.

This obviously angered the man, as he tightened his gauntleted fist. Nel gulped, looking for a way out. There was none. She was trapped.

* * *

A teenager, his expression smug walked down the corridors of Airyglyph castle. He had had a very good training session with his father, Glou Nox. As well as this, the many duels he had begun with the soldiers had ended very quickly with him always as the victor. What he needed was a new challenge. 

He had been training for the Dragon Brigade, and to be honest, Albel was not afraid mearly apprehensive about the final test that he would have to do. If he failed, he would die, but he was ready for death. The only thing that kept him living was his father, after the death of his mother years previously.

Albel would not let tears fall for her, even had already been shed. Instead he promised for the thousandth time that he would find her killer. He would get his revenge for the woman he loved most in the world being killed in front of his own bloody eyes.

From the talk in the inns, there was a new man in the dungeons. They had been captured in Arias, after destroying several of the Airyglyph men. Albel spat to the floor in contempt, the Aquarian worms still lived, their sole enemies. They still had not managed to take over Arias, but he knew from reports that enough damage had been done in Arias to make reconstruction very difficult. This man sounded like a good challenge for him though.

This was the reason he was walking through the castle, onto the dungeons. He needed a fight, and if it ended in death, at least it would be the death of one of Romera's maggots.

Walking down the cold dark steps, his sarong gliding along with him, Albel grinned wickidly at the sounds of screams from down the corridor. The inquisitor was doing his work.

* * *

The Inquisitor gave a short, hollow laugh as his fist connected with Nel's cheek. The gauntlet slashed open Nel's cheek, leaving a large mass of blood. She would have gone flying if not for the chains that had been attached to her wrists above her head. Instead, she just dangled. Once again, Nel looked up, trying to meet the Inquisitors gaze, but this time it was impossible. The Inquisitor looked as though he were about to punch her again but suddenly stopped, fist in mid flight. 

The thing that had stopped him were the footsteps coming down the steps. Nel breathed a sigh of relief. Now she could finally catch her breath.

A tall man entered the room where both Nel and the Inquisitor were stood. The room was fairly dark but Nel could make out the glowing blood red eyes that seemed to pierce her own. On closer inspection, he appeared no older than she, but his stance showed an amazing arrogance Nel only believed men had. Or supreme fighters.

* * *

Albel looked upon the killer with his cold eyes which showed a deep hatred, but also a hint of amusement. If this man had fought their soldiers, it did not say much for the quality of soldiers that the King had sent. He was scrawny, blood openly dripping down his face. There was a quality of something Albel could just not place…He did seem about Albel's age. 

The inquisitor spoke in his harsh guttered voice,

"This Nox is Miss Nel."

Nel looked upon the boy named Nox and saw the surprise etched on his face. _What was so shocking?_ She wondered, unless he recognised her name. Then things might get ugly. The boy called Nox spoke, his voice filled with arrogance,

"Then I will have to fight…her. She needs to know the pain Albel the Wicked can give."

Nel noticably quivered, no way was she ready. There was no other choice, she could see that from his stance. He wanted to fight so she'd have to give all she had. She nodded, perhaps too quickly, showing her nervousness. The Inquisitor undid the chains and stood to the side, ready for the blood bath to begin.

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**And there all you S03 fans go. I don't think it's the best thing I've ever written, and your comments would be so much appreciated.**

**Please please please review, I only have 2 so far...xD and one of those was from my dumb kid brother who didn't realise I was logged on when writing his comment.  
**

**Bron1991**


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